Scars and Souvenirs

Over the last couple days I have been talking to my doctor and we both agreed that the port is the best option for me.  On top of the things that I mentioned in my last post, I was told that after so many of them I can become prone to blood clots in my arms.  So to prevent the pain of placing a picc line every three months and the clots in the future I am getting this access port.  Once it is in and healed it will be like it is not even there.  It is under the skin so it is not exposed. I was told that I won't even feel it in there. All the maintenance that is needed with this port is that is needs to be flushed out with saline and Heparin once a month. This is done with a needle and flush. I won't even feel when this is accessed because I am given Lidocaine cream to numb the skin beforehand.

The surgery is scheduled for 1:00 pm tomorrow afternoon. I am going to be under enough anesthesia so I really don't know what is going on, but I will not be completely under. They don't want to put me completely under because of the risk to my lungs. A few hours after this port is placed I should be able to go home. :) Jason has done an amazing job at getting everything packed and moved over to the new place. He said all that is left is the living room. We are going to pack that together tomorrow night and then meet my family for the move. A plus to going home on the IV meds..this gives me a week off of work to be able to do some unpacking. I hate moving because of all the work, but the unpacking is nice.  It is a great feeling to see the place come together and you are able to call it home.  Looking forward to buying some stuff to decorate too.

I also received a package from New York-Presbyterian about the tests I have to do.  Jason was reading off a list of things that I have to get done.  I will talk more about that when I am home and can see all that I have to do.  Also there is a problem with that because I am scheduled for different appointments in NYC dating from Aug 12 through Oct 8th!  That is going to be a little hard to pull off.  So I am going to be calling them tomorrow to find out more information on that.   Well I am off to bed and I will let everyone know how the surgery goes sometime tomorrow or Saturday.  Good night.